Month: Nov 2020

Activities · Christmas · Chronic Illness

Low Cost/ Low Energy Gift Ideas for Others

memyselfandchronicillness12 Comments

There is no getting away from it – Christmas is getting closer! Seeing as it is the season for giving I thought it would be a good idea to talk about gifts you could give to your loved ones. I for one absolutely love the festive period, but living with chronic illnesses I find a) I don’t have the funds to buy elaborate presents for others and b) I don’t have the energy for boundless shopping (even if it is online).

With this in mind I have tried putting together five gift ideas which are low cost, easy to source and don’t require too much effort. Hopefully these inspire you to put together your own gifts, so enjoy getting creative!

Gift Idea 1 – Themed Jar

This idea is pretty simple all you need is a mason jar of any size with an idea of what the recipient likes and fill it. This could be in the form of beauty products, art accessories, socks, a specific hobby etc. Last year I actually used a bucket rather than a jar and filled it with car accessories as my relative had got a new car. For the purpose of this post I have chosen a baking jar.

My baking jar contains:

  • Reindeer and Christmas Tree cookie cutter
  • Pack of sweets
  • A glass bottle containing Golden Hundreds and Thousands
  • A glass bottle containing Silver Edible decorations
  • Red and green decorating icing
  • Wafer daisies
  • Spotty fairy cake cases

To decorate the jar I used crafts I had at home including a reindeer ribbon and a wooden tag with a Christmas tree print.

Gift Idea 2 – A Christmas Decoration/A Snow Globe

This was probably my most favourite item to make because it is very straight forward yet looks very pretty and gives that personal touch. Once again you need a humble mason jar, some simple decorations (which you could take from your own tree) and some fake snow.

If you want to make this as a simple decoration like mine all you need to do is add all your bits inside the jar, but if you would like to make it as a snow globe glue your decorations to the lid so when you shake everything stays in place.

My Christmas scene includes:

  • Faux snow
  • Snowman decoration
  • Post box decoration
  • Berry decoration (held in snowman’s hand)
  • Cone with wire
  • Blue sparkly ribbon

Gift Idea 3 – Little Box of Love

This idea is very similar to the jar ideas, but on a smaller scale. Again you can pick any theme you would like or choose lots of random items. I chose to make a stationary box which I decorated myself with my own crafts and filled with tiny stationary items.

My Little Stationary Box includes:

  • A wooden box (already made) – which I decorated with paint, and stocking, skates and snowflake sticker embellishments.
  • Pen
  • Stapler
  • Staples
  • Rubber
  • Gel pens
  • Key ring (not very stationary I know!)

Gift Idea 4 – Chocolate Bags – Best Low Energy Option

If crafting is not your thing or is too energy consuming then an easier option would be choosing someone’s favourite chocolates or sweets and presenting them in a cute Christmas bag. Who doesn’t like delicious treats at this time of year?

My Chocolate Bag includes:

  • Cellophane Santa bag
  • CHOCOLATE – Remember by doing this yourself you can cater to allergens and vegan options if needed.

Gift Idea 5 – Memo Memories – Best Low Cost Option

This option is for anyone who is finding money a real difficulty this year (or any year) – I feel you and trust me I am using this myself. This is actually probably the most thoughtful gift of the lot which will mean so much because it focuses on memories. You can use any medium you like whether that be a box, a jar, a container or even an empty cereal box – anything you can find in the house.

Got it? Great now all you need is paper and pens – again in whatever form you have them. Craft paper, wrapping paper, plain paper, card whatever you have. As long as you have enough to make say 10 (maybe more) squares which you can add writing to. Once you have made your squares all you need is your imagination.

On each square write a memory, a film, a song lyric, a photo anything that is personal between you and the person you are making it for. Once you finished them, fold them up and drop them in your container with a little message to the recipient to take one out when you see fit. Maybe one every day for the 12 days of Christmas, or when they are feeling sad, or when they want to think of you. The point being it should be a great way to remind them of why you love them and the happy times you have shared together – what could be better than that?

So there you have it my five ideas for low cost (hopefully low energy) gifts for others. Remember it is the thought that counts and there is no rush with how long it takes you to put things together. Remember there are always gift vouchers!

Activities · Chronic Illness · Mental Health · Stress Management

Gratitude Lists

memyselfandchronicillness4 Comments

Living with chronic illness it can be difficult at times to see the positives in your life. What with the endless mental and physical symptoms attached to your condition/s, in some cases the inability to work, be financially stable, have your own property and maintain relationships – life can be very difficult.

The last month has been a trying time for me with my conditions (which you can read about here) and I took a dip both mentally and physically. However the thing that has kept me going is the thing that always keeps me going – taking the time to appreciate what I do have in my life.

Gratitude lists are a great tool in realising that even in your most difficult times, there are still things in your life to be grateful for. No matter how small.

There are many ways you can create gratitude lists, it is just dependant on how much time you would like to dedicate to it. Some people may find writing one thing down each night that they have been grateful for that day helpful, whilst others may like to make a list in one go once a month. Alternatively you may find it useful to do one in times when you need a pick me up. The point is it should provide you comfort in your most difficult times and a go to resource to remind you why your life is good.

Photo by Miesha Maiden on Pexels.com

So what should you add to your gratitude list? This is a list which is unique to you so whilst you may have some generalised items you can have personal items specific to you too.

E.g. My generalised gratitude list includes:

  • Family
  • Access to food/drink
  • Roof over my head
  • The sun
  • The trees
  • Colours
  • Books and the ability to read
  • Warm bobble hats
  • Hot water bottles

E.g. My personal gratitude list includes:

  • My strength
  • Anyone who has helped me on my journey
  • My determination
  • My achievements big and small
  • My ability to keep going even when I want to give up

If you want to write daily gratitude lists, try and write about things that have happened to you that day which made you smile.

E.g. Wednesday gratitude list

  • Had a shower
  • Finished a chapter of my book
  • Had someone pay me a compliment
  • The weather

Another take is to give yourself themes to work around. From picking a season of the year (autumn) to a holiday you enjoy (Christmas), or even breaking down a gratitude you have already said and listing why you are grateful for it. You could even give yourself the alphabet challenge and list one thing beginning with each letter of the alphabet (if you can!)

E.g. My alphabet of gratitude includes:

  • A is for Air
  • B is for Blogging
  • C is for Countryside
  • D is for Dublin etc. etc.

Remember you can make it as serious or as fun as you want.

There you have it if there is one thing you do to make yourself feel better – make a gratitude list. There is no doubt life with chronic illness is hard, but remember to hold on to the little things in life; they are what will get you through.

So what are you grateful for?

Chronic Illness · Mental Health · Symptoms

Getting Better – Fantasy vs Reality – Health Update

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Today’s blog post is a little bit different to normal as I am going to share with you what has happened to me over the last few weeks. I haven’t blogged for about two weeks which has been extremely difficult as blogging has given me a focus of late – a sense of feeling ‘normal’ again whatever normal means these days.

You may or may not know I have five chronic conditions all of which affect me in different ways and on different levels. I don’t say this much but sometimes having multiple illnesses is just plain hard what with having symptoms every single day and having to accept it. The point is though after many (and I mean many) years of denial I had started to accept them as being part of my life.

So why am I talking about this? Well recently I was placed on medication in relation to one of my conditions. This was the first time I had been offered any sort of medication for any of my conditions and was feeling positive about it. I was told the initial settling in phase may give me side effects, to which I accepted because I am so used to being ill what’s a bit more illness. But I got through the initial side effects even when at times I thought I wouldn’t because I had so much faith things would improve and it did. A few of my symptoms whilst they didn’t disappear seemed to be better and that was when I made the mistake of believing I was getting better.

Feeling small improvements in myself started making me overlook any issues with symptoms I had. Instead I was trying to convince myself that it wasn’t that bad, things were getting easier completely dismissing the fact that I have five conditions and this medication was only for the one – that and the fact it was only designed to help with a fraction of the symptoms associated with this one condition anyway.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Pexels.com

My desire to be cured made me push on and set myself targets that were way above my ability. But that wasn’t really the problem, the problem was around two weeks ago I started feeling really ill again and any improvements I saw seemed to be disappearing again. It was then I had a horrific evening and collapsed ending up with a visit from the paramedics. Recovery has been slow and it has taken a lot longer than expected, my body just seems its in a ‘meh’ state and finds functioning too much to deal with. To top it off my collapse may mean now I can’t stay on my medication and keep those small improvements it has made.

I don’t know why I collapsed and I am still awaiting test results, but part of me wonders if I pushed myself too much all in my quest to be cured. It’s sad because I have been unwell for so many years and yet here I am still waiting for that magic pill that is going to make it better. Waiting for that fairy tale ending where suddenly everything is going to fall into place and I can live a ‘normal’ life. But this isn’t a fairy tale this is reality and this is chronic illness.

I wont lie to you having my body fail me yet again did affect my confidence. I had so many plans in terms of things I wanted to blog about and get involved with and having my body back to a unfunctional state made me want to stop. I just felt like I had come so far and I was back at square one again. But I guess that same statement is why I am typing right now because I have come so far. Physically things are not great right now, but mentally I am getting back to a good place.

Whilst this might not mean much to others this blog is important to me and I am going to strive to continue so watch this space….